Robotic Nation Evidence

On Friday it was noted here that large layoffs are becoming noticeable. This article in Saturday's paper notes the same thing:

Layoffs defy upbeat Wall Street

The fascinating paragraph in the article is this one:

But some economy watchers are concerned that this latest flurry of job cuts -- a byproduct of outsourcing, mergers, automation, changing technology and consumer demands -- may foreshadow trouble.

"We won't know till afterwards, but I do think we may be seeing a tipping point in the economic cycle that these big layoffs are flagging," said John A. Carpenter, chief executive of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, a Chicago-based employment research firm. "I think it's a sign that leaks are breaking out."

One thing is for certain: It was not a good week for American labor. In fact, it's been an unusually torrid summer of payroll trimming.

The title of the article is also interesting. The layoffs do not "defy" an upbeat Wall Street -- they propel it. When a company announces large layoffs, it HELPS the stock. Firing people is good for a company's stock price. This fact is one of the many things that will propel us toward the Robotic Nation.

By replacing employees with robots, companies become more profitable and their stock prices go up. There is no law that says that companies have to employ people. As robots get more versatile and more intelligent, companies will continue dumping people onto the unemployment roles. See Robots taking Jobs for details.